Emberwood many the miles

She had the right of it. Lucas, too, believed that what was done was done, but in a hopelessly optimistic way. Things could only keep getting better. That's what he believed the saying meant. For that reason he nodded with a smile; she wasn't tied to her husband any longer, and while that was surely a sad thing in its way, she didn't seem melancholy about it. So he didn't bother dwelling further.

What made you leave? he had to ask, though he thought he knew the answer already. Although Lucas had left Bearclaw Valley quite by accident, believing the troupe would bring him back after a day or two and still failing to see how nefarious they were, he'd known for some time that its ranks were defective. He couldn't remember the Alpha male doing anything noteworthy, and his mama, bless her heart, had children to worry about. The pack had seemed more like a loose group of wolves without direction than a group of wolves banded together in unity. It wasn't surprising that that lifestyle wasn't for some.

Still, he had to ask, if only because he liked to know how others saw things.